May 01, Colombo (LNW): Out of the 5,308 Headquarters Police Inspectors (HQIs), Station Officer In-Charges (OICs), and Sectional OICs (Crimes, Administration, etc.), a total of 1,106 officers, calculated to be a 7.2 per cent of the total, permanently reside within the Police divisions in which they are stationed, a study revealed.
The study was conducted by Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of the Northern Province Priyantha Weerasuriya, under the directive of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon.
The report was recently handed over to the IGP and sheds light that a significant number of Police officers, particularly in divisions such as Mannar, Anuradhapura, and Matara, chose to reside in the same areas where they perform their duties.
This phenomenon has stemmed the reporting of higher number crime rates in these divisions over the past three years.
The study identifies challenges such as limited housing availability and high transportation costs as influential factors driving officers to work in their residential areas.
Moreover, it raises concerns about the potential biases in their actions, which could impact their impartiality in carrying out duties and hinder crime prevention efforts.
To address these issues, the report offers short, medium, and long-term recommendations, underscoring the need for proactive measures to mitigate biases and enhance the performance of police officers in crime prevention.
The Police Headquarters has indicated that necessary actions will be taken by the IGP, in response to the findings of the study.
